I was just about to post the same. As per Mr. Ghaith Al Ghaith, the CEO - in a company wide email mentioned the following benefits (www.flydubai.com):

We will take delivery of the first aircraft with a Business Class cabin in August, after which all new aircraft will be configured with both business and economy classes. Please go to Gateway to find out more about flydubai’s Business Class offering however some highlights include:

• Priority check-in, located one minute from the car park at Terminal 2, Dubai International Airport
• Access to a dedicated Business Class lounge later in the year
• Priority baggage collection
• Dedicated 24 hour business team to attend to enquiries and assist in ticket booking, meal selection and telephone check-in
• 12 soft Italian leather seats offering a more personal travel experience
• Seat pitch of 42 inches
• In-flight entertainment system with a 12.1 inch touch screen
• Dedicated cabin crew member
• Internationally-inspired menus including cold food on short flights, and the option of a three-course hot meal on flights of 90 minutes and above

This seems to be a more "premium" service than the likes of Jazeera Business Class which offers a divider between the regular seats.

I personally use flydubai every week for travels to the different stations in the Middle East. I see this succeeding as the J class fares in Emirates to the middle eastern cities are too high. This might fill the gap. I love flydubai's relaxed service atmosphere on most flights, and their friendly flight attendants. Might just work.

Many thanks for the above mentioned key information as the bloomberg article was quite vague to say the least !

So a cabin of 12J and how many Y class? I guess 130-136 max?

Yes there are many routes that FZ would do quite well with the introduction of the J class cabin. These include KWI, JED, RUH, DMM, DOH, BEY, AMM, BAH, KBL and the oil rich cities of Central Asia.

They should not introduce them on services to Indian subcontinent, KRT, ADD and the secondary Russian cities due to the passenger demographic there being largely economy class paying ones.

In turn this will also help them gain more higher yielding J class feed from Emirates to those destinations where there is demand from the EK network but due to FZ not having a premium cabin some corporate pax would not want to fly them.

I was just reading a CAPA (commercial aviation analyst) article about FZ. They mentioned the relationship between EK and FZ, stating that the rather "hybrid" FZ has become EK's answer to its narrowbody-equipped competitors - namely, EY and QR. Not only FZ offer service to a variety of smaller markets in the region that cannot support (or in some cases, physically accommodate) EK widebody service, but FZ can also boost frequency on routes that both EK and FZ serve (BAH, DOH, MCT, etc.). They said that from EK's standpoint, an F-equipped carrier (a la SQ's MI) would be preferred, and sure enough that has indeed happened! I guess this change in FZ strategy means there probably is significant connectivity between EK and FZ, although nowadays it isn't all that unusual for an airline to start as an LCC and then morph into a full service carrier - B6, VA, etc. Given the premium clientele that Dubai frequently caters to, I am sure this move will go over well! Lots of very wealthy people in many of their oil-rich destinations .

Flying in the middle seat of coach is much better than not flying at all!

Quoting behramjee (Reply 2):They should not introduce them on services to Indian subcontinent, KRT, ADD and the secondary Russian cities due to the passenger demographic there being largely economy class paying ones.

I also think that introducing it to the Indian destinations would not make much sense as it is a price sensitive market (as discussed many times before on this forum). Plus major Indian cities are already served by EK with a dedicated J class and even F class in some instances.

But as mentioned by the CEO, as it is gradually introduced in all the aircraft, it would eventually appear on all routes as flydubai doesn't seem to be an airline which would maintain 2 different configurations in the fleet due to flexibility with aircraft scheduling.

apparently the configuration is 12J and 162Y...this would arguably the most dense B738 dual class configuration out there as larger aircraft such as B739ERs and A321s seat 175-180 pax in a 2 class layout so how is FZ doing this with a smaller aircraft ?

Quoting 3rdGen (Reply 6):
So is FZ no longer LCC? What amazes me to no end is the fact that I often see in the middle east a EK 340-500 lining up with a FZ 737 waiting right behind it. Unbelievable.

It still remains an LCC, as per the information on the website and other sources. Only thing its doing differently is offering a business class section. Much like Jazeera Airways (Kuwait), which offers two cabin service in the LCC market. Another example is JetBlue which will also introduce/has introduced a dedicated business cabin.

Quoting behramjee (Reply 7):
apparently the configuration is 12J and 162Y...this would arguably the most dense B738 dual class configuration out there as larger aircraft such as B739ERs and A321s seat 175-180 pax in a 2 class layout so how is FZ doing this with a smaller aircraft ?

FZ currently operates 189 all Y configuration on its B737-800 (the only aircraft type it operates), so its losing just about 15 seats by re configuring with a J class.

I agree with a dual class, this is the most dense seating config out there.

This is an interesting question/observation, but according to me - the status of an airline, be it an all economy or a full service carrier shouldn't affect its entry into any market, but i am not sure if there are regulations or restrictions in that context.

What might be an after effect of this decision is the low business/premium demand markets such as KTM, HYD, AMD, LKO and some Russian cities that FZ operates might lose some potential revenue as a lost of 15 odd seats, which makes a big difference for LCCs.

just a side note....so in a 2 class config FZ has 162 Y...and all those poor pax are relegated to the 2 aft lavatories only

just to think their competition down the road at SHJ actually configures their A320s with 162Y on some aircraft and the remaining with 168Y (the ones with the redesigned aft and fwd galley). agreed G9 does not have IFE onboard but considering the kind of destinations that FZ and G9 fly...the queues to the lavs are never ending.

I thought FZ was one of the best LCC I have flown after a AMM-DXB flight last year. Their IFE screen is huge, the plane was extremely clean, and the cabin crew were top notch. I'm 6'6, and even though pitch is tight, it's much better than on say AF when the person in front of you reclines. At certain angles my knees don't hit the seat in front of me.

Have they changed their uniforms? when they launched Karachi few years back their uniform was beige skirt, blue shirt , scarf with FZ colours tied around neck, top shirt button open looking somewhat sexy, for Multan/Sialkot this year they had same skirt and scarf but dowdy beige top with round neck no buttons.

Quoting behramjee (Reply 7):Apparently the configuration is 12J and 162Y...this would arguably the most dense B738 dual class configuration out there as larger aircraft such as B739ERs and A321s seat 175-180 pax in a 2 class layout so how is FZ doing this with a smaller aircraft ?

Virgin Australia is close to it with 8J and 168Y - one less row of business traded for one more row of economy.

Quoting 777way (Reply 14):
Have they changed their uniforms? when they launched Karachi few years back their uniform was beige skirt, blue shirt , scarf with FZ colours tied around neck, top shirt button open looking somewhat sexy, for Multan/Sialkot this year they had same skirt and scarf but dowdy beige top with round neck no buttons.

Look at this image, if you are talking about the staff in the front row, this is part of the uniform options that they have for the cabin crew.

Quoting 777way (Reply 19):
That's the one, whats the horrible creased material? looks like some cotton mix the type used for Khakis and outdoorsy, camping attire.

I do agree the blue shirts look good on both the men and the women, the full skirt looks a bit odd due to the color and it creases up a lot faster. Not sure of the material used.

Quoting Pe@rson (Reply 20):If I recall correctly, I believe they announced a couple of routes, including Chandigarh, but were not able to launch them.

As far as India goes, i think the services are heavily restricted due to the current number of flights that are warranted between UAE and India. Starting new destinations in India might take a while i guess.
For far east, currently FlyDubai is probably concentrating on destinations within 5 hours flying time and to better connect Russian cities with Dubai as there is a lot of tourism potential and money spenders inbound from Russia

Ant plans for Iran? such as Bandar Abbas a former EK market though fivr Iranian carriers alrady fly the route, another Afghan city Kandahar two Afghan carriers serving the route, Herat no international flights yet, Mazar-i-Sharif latter now served by Turkish, Urumqi in China route previously served by China Southern 757, Quetta in Pakistan no link since PIA ended their service on the route?